


A Four Part Story

by areyoufr



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Canon-Compliant, E-books, Fluff, Hinted WonChan, Light Angst, M/M, Predictions, Rated T for swearing, Slight JunHao & Meanie, frenemies who become lovers, minor cheolsoo, minor seokhan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-25 21:41:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19754323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/areyoufr/pseuds/areyoufr
Summary: There are four parts to the series Minghao was reading: (1) enemies who found a common ground; (2) a prediction that needs to be covered up in order not to sound weird; (3) a friend that was sent to never leave their side; and (4) the finale.In which Minghao and Mingyu read fanfiction, and try to connect it to real life.





	A Four Part Story

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Full disclaimer: the stories here are fully from the my imagination. If it’s similar to another existing work, it’s purely coincidental. (it’s difficult to come up with 5 plots) 
> 
> 2\. Crossposted on Wattpad with the same title.
> 
> 3\. I’m sorry for this mess djdjd

  
_"Don't you feel the same way, Wonwoo?"_

_"Why would I like a low pet store owner like you?" Wonwoo asks. "I wouldn't stoop that low, Mingyu."_

_"You call me 'Gyu.'" Mingyu's tears fell from his eyes. "You always call me Gyu."_

Once the story gets too much, too angsty, Minghao would always look at the title of the story. He would click anywhere once and it would appear. _Book 4_ , he would read over and over every time he clicks on any part of his phone, and then the book title, and the term _meanie_ next to it.

  
Except this time, he didn't see those as it was blocked by various messages from the other half of _meanie_ himself: Kim Mingyu.

**gyu:** MYUNGHO CAN WE HANG OUT

 **gyu:** I MISS YOU :(

He frowned upon seeing the text notifications interfering with the mix of words splashed on the e-book he was currently reading. He swiped those notifs up, and was back to—

**gyu:** SEO MYUNGHO, XU MINGHAO, THE8

 _SVT_ _GRANDMA_ —He scoffed upon reading that one— _CAN WE HANG OUT?_

 **gyu:** ARE YOU SLEEPING? DANCING AGAIN? MAKING DEALS AND GETTING YOURSELF EVEN MORE EMPLOYED??? IF YOURE DONE MESSAGE ME

_If Kim Mingyu is sending too much at a time, it must be urgent, right?_ That was what Minghao liked to think. But no—of course not. It wasn't urgent. It was just Mingyu who was looking for company. On a normal day, Minghao would've cared. But it isn't a normal day, and Mingyu could go look for another member to bother (maybe Seungkwan?)—

**gyu:** Seungkwannie is tired :( I want him to rest :(((

 **gyu:** come on, first you cancelled our wine date for two times and now you don't want to hang out :(( please :(( Myungho :((

 **the8:** GO AWAY

 **the8:** DO NOT SPAM

 **gyu:** can I go to your room instead?

 **the8:** Bad idea .

 **gyu:**...

 **gyu:** im coming to your room

 **the8:** I'm warning you, it's a BAD idea

 **gyu:** but i miss and want to hang out with you :(

 **gyu:** AND IT'S RAINING LETS DO RAINY DAY THINGS :D

 **the8:** I'm reading a really boring ebook. While relaxing. Go find someone else again. Or go catch up with your family. But not me. Stop messaging me as I'm busy

He thought that would do the trick. "Really boring" wasn't an appealing description, was it?

  
Except it didn't. He received a knock on his door a few minutes later, accompanied by Mingyu's annoying voice, asking him to open it. Minghao doesn't know what's the big deal with company when it comes to this stupid puppy, but he opened the door for him to find out, anyway.

  
"What," he asked once he opened the door, "do you want right now, you annoying fuck?"

  
"Hello!"

  
"I thought you were sick of seeing me, fuckface."

  
"That was one time. I didn't mean that."

  
"Alright, I see." Minghao motioned for him to leave. "I have to do something. Goodbye."

  
"Wait!" Mingyu stopped the closing of the door by placing his hand on the doorframe. "Come on, you're my friend. My best friend. My art buddy. We drink wine and talk about our dreams. All the while listening to the rain outside. And that's exactly what we can do today. Because I miss you."

  
Minghao wasn't in the mood for those specifics. "We're going to do _what_?"

  
"Hang-out. How many times do I have to repeat that word?"

  
"As many as you'd like because unfortunately, I can't _and_ don't want to hang out with," Minghao looked at him with faux disgust, " _you_."

  
"By 'hang-out' I mean one of us has to go out of their way to be with the other. As you can see, one of us already went out. And I think it's important that you remember that you were the one who usually goes to my dorm just because you want us to hang-out."

  
"Yeah, but my name is The8 with the implication that I'm open to infinite possibilities," he argued, pushing off Mingyu's hand resting on the doorframe. "And I'm open to the possibility that things aren't going to be like that anymore."

  
Mingyu smiled, unaffected. "I love you too, Myungho."

  
Minghao almost reacted improperly to that, but Mingyu looked unfazed. "Okay. If you wanna hang out then what are we supposed to do? No wine drinking because there's no stock."

  
He paused for a few seconds. "You can continue to read while I. . . cuddle you?"

  
Minghao frowned. "Gross. I knew it was a bad idea that you came here."

  
"Like you never cuddle Seokmin," Mingyu protested.

  
"It's not gross with him, but it's gross with you," Minghao re-opened his phone, preparing to continue reading. "Whatever. Just come inside and lock the door."

  
He heard the door click. Door locked.

  
"Lock the- What influence did Junnie hyung have on you for you to lock up in your room for days, just to read e-books? You told me you prefer hard copies," Mingyu wondered out loud as they both walked towards Minghao's bed. The latter sat down with his back on the wall and Mingyu followed, resting his head on the other's shoulder. "What were you reading, anyway?"

  
Minghao decided to spill the beans. As embarrassing as it was, he didn't mind it at all if his supposed best friend — Mingyu — would find out about it. It being him reading a four part series and the current read being a meanie fanfiction.

  
"This might disturb you."

  
"You're disturbing enough already."

  
"I mean it, fuckface. This is what you get for pushing through the hang-out."

  
"What makes the e-book disturbing, then? Is it violent? Political?"

  
Minghao showed him his phone, as he exited the current one he was reading. Mingyu was still curious, "Moon Junnie-hyung reads those?"

  
"Actually, this was the type of e-book Jun-hyung didn't introduce to me. I just found it," Minghao admitted. "It's... uh, fanfiction. About us."

  
"Us?"

  
"No, not _us_. But there's a different pairing for each part or story. You're with Wonu-hyung."

  
"Oh. . ."

  
"It's a series; a four-book or four-part series, all set in the same universe. The first part was, uh, a pair from our group — Jeonghan-hyung and Seokmin — and a story that's angsty all because Seokmin is an angel and Jeonghan-hyung is a demon. They were enemies who found a common ground and became friends, then lovers. Next," Minghao shows the next story, the next e-book, and Mingyu finds himself reading _Joshua_ and _S.Coups_ together. "Yeah, people call it 'cheolsoo' and the story is also quite angsty — and also light-hearted — because Seungcheol-hyung is a demon guard and Joshua-hyung is a human fortune teller. Basically, Shua-hyung predicts stuff, and Cheol-hyung thinks he's crazy and more demonic than ever. And he's trying to cover up whenever Shua-hyung predicts, because it's weird."

  
". . . I can't believe you read those."

  
"I told you it was a bad idea coming here, loser." He lightly pushed Mingyu away. "So, y'know, you're free to fucking leave."

  
"But if the stories kept you reading, then I guess it's good," Mingyu said, placing his head again on Minghao's shoulder. "Despite of this being weird, I trust that the story's good, because we have the same taste."

  
"And the third one, which was kind of difficult to read, is a story of me and Jun-hyung. . . um, yeah. It was hard to read. But I liked the plot. It was about a vampire me—"

  
"'Vampire me'?" Mingyu repeated. "That's cute."

_  
Shut up._

  
"And Jun as a cat. He's supposed to be the cat that Seokmin the Angel sent to keep me company as the only vampire alive in China. That's the story," Minghao explained, and he swipes the screen to show the fourth and last story, "it's about you and Wonwoo-hyung. Or _meanie_. This is what I'm reading now."

  
Mingyu moved closer to him.

  
"It's also the first book of that author to gain so much popularity and reads," he explained. "I'm starting to like your character there better than how I like you in real life. Wait, do I even like you in real life? _I know I don't._ Bitch."

  
Mingyu frowned, but he didn't make a move to go away. "I know you don't."

  
"If the members found out about this, I'll never hear the end of it," Minghao warned him, "and I don't mean to disrespect them by reading this. I just really love the stories. Please don't tell."

  
"Of course." Mingyu held out his pinky for a pinky promise, but Minghao ignored him. He dropped his hand. "Let me read, too."

  
"But I already went this far," Minghao said annoyedly. He knew that Mingyu was a fast reader, however, so he gave him his phone and there — Mingyu read from the start.

  
_Book 1_ , Minghao read, followed by the title, _Not One Bit_ , and then the term _seokhan_. Mingyu reached out an arm and wrapped it around the other's shoulders.

  
Minghao already fell asleep before he can read the first word. If it's because Mingyu was comforting, or the pouring rain outside, he doesn't know. Maybe it was because of both.

  
-

_"I'm trying to ask you politely, Jeonghan," Seokmin begins as he eyes the sword resting on the ground. "To not leave your belongings anywhere in Heaven!"_

_Jeonghan appears, a puff of smoke trailing behind him from wherever he came from. His horns seems to be burning even brighter than usual._

_Seokmin is almost worried. Then he remembers this is Jeonghan he is looking at._

_"This is the first time you appear actually invited, Jeonghan."_

_"By surprising you?"_

_"Yes. How ironic," Seokmin says, waving his hand elegantly to signal that Jeonghan can come closer. "I invite you by saying your name out loud, then you surprise me by actually coming here."_

_"It's not ironic, Seokmin, not one bit."_

-

It had stopped raining.

  
Minghao woke up a few hours later, surprised to see Mingyu still reading. He had his arm placed on top of Mingyu (read: hugging), the pillow on his head was _still_ Mingyu and he was curled next to him comfortably. Well, it's impossible to deny that Mingyu _was_ comfortable and radiated warmth from his existence in itself.

  
However, Minghao was still disappointed to himself: what happened to 'cuddling Mingyu is gross'?

  
Disgusting.

  
Mingyu suddenly smiled, his sharp teeth showing. "This is so awkward to read."

  
Minghao removed Mingyu's arm that was wrapped around his shoulders (Minghao used it as a pillow when he slept), still. "Doesn't your arm hurt?"

  
"It does," Mingyu agreed. "But you looked really comfortable."

  
"Thanks."

  
Mingyu stretched his arms, one of which was holding Minghao's phone. "You're welcome. Want to read with me?"

-

_Seokmin hates Jeonghan with all of his power. He hates that he is breaking the law of hating one's enemies. He is hating the fact that he is letting Jeonghan manipulate him and turn him into the worse._

_(He doesn't think it's the worse. It's the best he's ever been in.)_

_And even more so, he is hating the fact that he does not hate it. Not one bit. Even if he has to go to court; even if he has to face a trial; he does not hate it._

_Not. One. Bit._

"Aww," Mingyu cooed annoyingly, "that's so cute."

  
"Keep it down, nerd."

  
"So that's why the title is 'Not One Bit'? Because they kept on saying it? Interesting."

  
"It _was_ mentioned from the _start_." Minghao didn't know why his friend acted stupidly sometimes. "And besides," he moved away from Mingyu. "There's actually a connection already between this book and the third one around this part of the—"

  
"No spoilers," Mingyu reminded sadly. "Unfortunately, I already see the connection. Seokmin the Angel gave Vampire you Junnie-hyung the Cat to make up for his sins, right? And it's a good thing because in book three, you must be lonely or in need of a friend, and that good act would redeem Seokmin." He looked at Minghao for confirmation. "Right?"

  
"Right. Sorry. I didn't think you'd go that far, considering you only found out why the title was Not One Bit just fucking now, in the 43rd chapter."

  
"Geez, no need to be harsh."

  
Minghao supposed it is rude. "You're right. Sorry."

_Seokmin is held by the arms and is dragged as he enters the court room, a place he had never been in before. It was round and confined, had high ceilings that reached the vast heavens, if there is any more beyond, and was held by pillars of green, black, and gold. The colors of a perfect scare. They say it stood for centuries after centuries, and yet the structure never seemed old._

_"Lee Seokmin," someone unidentified states. He looks down on his feet and sees his dark reflection on the floor staring back at him. The guard next to him—he learns the name is Seungcheol—pulls his face up harshly and Seokmin suppresses an "ouch."_

_He looks for Jeonghan in the crowd. There is no trace of him there. All he can see are angels and devils alike, looking at him in judgment and disgrace. But no Jeonghan. No devil with blazing horns._

_But there exists an angel with a sword, and that is him. Seungcheol takes notice of the object and forcefully gets it from his grasp._

_Now, he doesn't have Jeonghan, and he has no sword. Not anymore._

_Suddenly, the court's judge, Chwe Hansol, hammers his gavel. "Order in the court!"_

-

"Book 2," Mingyu read out loud, "Cheolsoo."

  
"I said be quiet, Mingyu. And please let fucking go of me."

  
"Your phone's dying," Mingyu pointed out. "But don't worry, because I charged it—"

  
Someone knocked gently on the door. Minghao couldn't recognize who it was, having been confused by the various ways of knocking by the members. "Who could that be?"

  
"Lee Seokmin," Mingyu raised his voice.

  
There was silence from the other side of the door.

  
Until Seokmin spoke up, with his voice muffled by the door, "Who's that? Hao? I can't identify the voice."

  
Both Mingyu and Minghao looked at each other in light surprise, remembering the part when someone unidentified stated 'Lee Seokmin' in the Heaven and Hell court room. "He said identify, Mingyu."

  
"It's me, Mingyu," Mingyu responded back to Seokmin.

  
Then it was followed by silence again.

  
"One of us should open the door," Mingyu suggested, his eyes never leaving the phone. The other watched him as he scrolled towards the next part of the story. "And that one, in my opinion, is supposed to be you."

  
"You're the visitor, Gyu."

  
"Who's the host? I can't touch stuff without the host's consent."

  
"I'm permitting you to open the—"

  
"The visitor declines the permit." Mingyu grinned mockingly, his canine teeth appearing. _Damn it_. Minghao decided to stand up and open the door, _fucking finally_ , when —

  
"Seokmin said there was an unidentified voice?"

  
"Aah!"

  
Minghao was purely shocked to see that it was Jeonghan who was on the other side of the door already, with Seokmin standing behind him. Damn. Was he overreacting? It's just Jeonghan, his Jeonghan-hyung. He held on to his clothes. "Hyung, what the heck, you surprised me."

  
"Jeonghan-hyung? Surprise?" was Mingyu's annoying discovery.

  
"Um, yes..." Seokmin's hand reached to the back of his next. "I got worried because I didn't recognize the other voice. Didn't know it was just Gyu, so I invited Jeonghan-hyung. Sorry for making a fuss."

  
"Invited?!" It was Mingyu again.

  
The story lingered in Minghao's mind. This is the first time you appear actually invited, Jeonghan. followed by, By surprising you?

  
"No, wait, sorry for that," Minghao apologized for their behavior. "Why were you knocking?"

  
"It's dinner time, and we're planning to eat outside," Seokmin informed, and halfway through, Jeonghan interrupted him, "Do you want to join or we'll just get you take out? And by the way, Gyu didn't tell us ahead that he won't be cooking, even though he _promised_ dinner tonight, so it's a last minute thing."

  
"I'm sorry!" Mingyu scrambled to his feet, pocketing Minghao's phone.

  
"Hey, my ph—"

  
"Are you guys hungry? I totally forgot to cook. Shit. I'm so sorry."

  
"Junnie-hyung grilled but it was only for him and Chan. We haven't gotten any since they ran out of hotdogs to grill."

  
"Take your time in cooking, everyone can wait," Jeonghan said comfortingly.

  
"You mean _you_ can wait," Seokmin muttered to him.

  
"Not to be rude or anything, but is this an argument?" Mingyu asked. Minghao almost coughed. " _Enemies_?" He looked at Minghao and whispered, "the common ground is lost."

  
Minghao wanted to end their friendship right there and then.

  
Jeonghan tilted his head in suspicion, "What's lost?"

  
"Um. . ."

  
Realization graced upon Mingyu's expression, as Minghao read, and he responded with an easy smile instead. The Chinese member scoffed. As if his smile would work.

  
_As if_ , he kept on insisting in his head.

  
"My time for cooking is lost, and wasted," Mingyu said hurriedly. "I'm gonna go cook in our dorm, bye!"

  
Then he left.

-

_"In two days time, a flower will bloom amongst the fire. The smoke will linger in the air for no longer than five centuries, but will die down by the splash of water from the river of the Heavens," Joshua says._

_"The fuck that's supposed to mean?" Seungcheol asks in annoyance. He cannot understand what the fortune teller is saying._

_"That means, you'll finally confess your love for me in two days and we'll, like, have a relationship for five centuries, until some Angel will ruin shit for us because of some tragedy or some shit."_

_"What?! I don't even like you!" He denies. Joshua pats his black hair comfortingly._

_With an elegant wave of his hands, he makes Seungcheol's recent memory disappear. He will not remember this conversation at all._

_Joshua watches the purple dust float around the booth with a smile._

_-_

"I'm sorry for making everyone wait."

  
"Don't be," Seungcheol said nicely, a large contrast from his character in Book 2. "It's more important that you remembered."

  
"We reminded him," Jeonghan corrected.

  
"It's no problem, Gyu," Soonyoung said, who was already beginning to consume his food. Chan nudged him to stop. "I mean, the food was even more delayed because you're reading something on your phone. Not that it's a bad thing. Don't feel bad, Mingyu."

  
Mingyu laughed nervously. "Yeah. Okay."

  
Minghao refused to interact with his friend during the dinner. No one was talking, anyway, as everyone was focused on satisfying their hunger.

  
"Wait!" Mingyu suddenly interrupted the silence. He made a quick counting motion with his free hand. "We're only twelve. Where's Shua-hyung?"

  
"He's taking care of some plants," Jihoon answered.

  
"He has plants?"

  
"Yeah, he just got them today from our manager." Jihoon shrugged. "Don't know why and I don't care enough to know why."

  
"He has to watch over them for some bet he had with Jeonghan," Seungcheol explained patiently. "They're having a bet on when the flowers would bloom."

  
"Oh. What are the bets?" Wonwoo asked, suddenly interested in the discussion.

  
"My guess is it will grow flowers in more than a week," Jeonghan replied, "but Shua says he thinks it's going to bloom in two days or less."

  
"What? Really? Did Shua say two days?" Seungcheol asked, looking up to remember.

  
Minghao looked at Mingyu discreetly: _two_ _days_ , and that _Cheol-hyung forgot._

  
Mingyu seemed to understood what his face was trying to say, because his expression was nearly screaming the same thing.

  
"I'm pretty sure he did, he even wrote it on our contract."

  
"Contract," Chan parroted in disappointment for having such childish elder brothers. From beside him, Soonyoung patted his back in light comfort.

  
"What's next," Minghao muttered to no one in particular, "a splash of water will die down and will come from the so-called river of the heavens—"

  
The rain poured louder outside. Pit-pats were audible, a signal that the water from the clouds were colliding with the windows and the structure itself in the noisiest way possible.

  
Junhui smiled at him. "I told you e-books are wonderful, Hao-hao," he said in Mandarin.

  
Minghao looked at him in horror.

-

_Seungcheol is desperate. Joshua really has the nerve to speak like that before the devils, before the demons. If he continues this behavior, they will have Seungcheol's horns off._

_That isn't a good thing. It hurts more than anything else._

_"What was that?" A demon growled._

_Joshua smiled sweetly, "I said, the mountain you will step on will create the strongest of—"_

_"He said NOTHING. He said, that, the mountain is perfectly built by the demon sinners and will be even more perfect if we add more demon sinners—"_

_"—of women. You should know by now, that your stupid king can be easily overthrown by your fifth daughte—"_

_"—Shua—"_

_"—daughter. Because she, although only 800 years old, is more capable than that b—"_

_"PERFORM THE FORGETFUL SPELL ON HIM RIGHT NOW!"_

_He didn't realize he said that out loud. Not until all eyes turn to him, all horns turn to him, some blazing, some growing, some sharpening._

_Seungcheol is merely an accepted demon in society. He is only a guard._

_His fate is even worse when Joshua tilts his head innocently. "I'm sorry, Mister Guard, but I am only a human, and not a wizard. I cannot and can never perform such spell."_

_Before the demons can remove his horns, he sees purple dust floating all around._

_When Seungcheol adjusts his focus — he sees that the demons, the devils, are not facing them. They are all minding their own business at the pub. He is surprised that he still remembers that they were almost going to kill him._

_"I didn't forget?"_

_"I didn't want you to." Joshua sips on his drink pretentiously. "You're lucky I allowed you to remember. My minor power — the forgetting one — can be shared to only one other creature."_

-

"You like that too much, and I just finished the job for you. I don't think you were even listening when I told you about the rain thing."

  
"It's valid, Myungho," Mingyu said distractedly, putting the phone down. "I cooked."

  
"Yeah, you're right. Understood."

  
"But seriously Myungho, this is ridiculous," Mingyu told him after they washed the dishes. "Things are just too much of a coincidence. We were only reading for a day and we see connections already... I think we're just too absorbed by it."

  
"You mean _you_ were reading for a day. I finished those in a week."

  
"Anyway," Mingyu ignored the underlying compliment Minghao was trying to imply. "Let's experiment."

  
_Experiment_ , he repeated in his head. He considered that it can be a helpful idea —

  
A helpful idea to end their delusions. Their week-off was nothing but unproductive, with them suddenly questioning in this weird "power" and weird pattern. "I like that. How should we do it?"

  
"First things first. What's your next prediction?"

  
"Prediction? Based from the story, right? Hmm... I don't know..."

  
"Me too. Um," he looked around and spotted a spoon. "What if Hansol the Judge will ask for order?"

  
_Order in the court!_ Minghao recalled one of Hansol the Judge's lines in Book 1.

  
"Sure, let's see."

  
By midnight, Hansol arrived in the kitchen where Mingyu and Minghao were still reading with the second book. He pulled his beanie even lower out of habit, and the action didn't go unnoticed to Minghao's peripheral vision. His brain tells him: _Hansol must have a concern._

  
"What's up, Sol?"

  
"Um, I'm kind of hungry. Can you cook for me?"

  
"Cook?" Mingyu asked absentmindedly.

  
"Yeah, um... you know, the one that you do everyday..."

  
The Chinese member knew that there was a similar thought in both of their — he and Mingyu's — heads at that exact moment. It doesn't really count as an _order_ , but when people ask for food, they technically _order_.

  
"Sure." Mingyu flashed a smile. "What would you like to eat, sir?"

  
Hansol grinned brightly, opting to play along. "I'd like to order. . ."

-

The next morning, as Joshua, Seokmin, and Mingyu prepared breakfast for the members, Minghao accompanied them by the nearby stool to read the story out loud to Mingyu, along with the promise that he will wash the dishes later for not helping out with the actual cooking.

  
With the names, of course, replaced by different ones. "Joshua" was now referred to as _Monster_ and "Seungcheol" was now _X_. Mingyu coined it after hearing a Monsta X playlist blasting from Seungcheol's room a few minutes ago.

  
Seokmin told him there's no need to pressure himself to cook, though, but Minghao cannot tell if that was a good or a bad thing. Joshua only smiled at him as a small offer of comfort, which might translate to, _it's okay if you cannot cook food that isn't Chinese, because you have us, and you can always pay by cleaning up later._

  
". . . _Monster merely laughed. "You were so worried. I wasn't going to tell them about the forest, X!"_

_X messes up his hair. The birds above them are chirping, making noises, and distracting him, and what X only wanted was for them to stop. Everything should stop._

_Time should stop and let him breathe._ "

  
"Woah," Seokmin commented. "I can feel X's pain."

  
"X?" Joshua questioned without looking up from the coffee machine. "That's such a weird name."

  
"Yeah, it is weird," Seokmin laughed, pausing for a moment to punch Joshua's shoulder good-naturedly.

  
"Seokmin, wait, the coffee's gonna—"

  
"Oh, sorry," Seokmin apologized, his bright demeanor never wavering. He focused back on the rice cooker, watching in satisfaction as the light turned on, indicating that the rice was finally cooking. He pulled his sleeves down. "My job's all done!"

  
"Go get your sleep, then," Mingyu told him gently. "When you wake up the breakfast is all—"

  
"I heard BREAKFAST," Junhui interrupted, hugging Seokmin tightly who was just stepping out. "Helloooo!"

  
"Junnie-hyung!"

  
Minghao turned off his phone, sighing. "Can't listen in a loud place."

  
Mingyu told him okay.

  
Before Seokmin could fully go away, Seungcheol rushed towards the kitchen, his shirt stained with purple— _wait, purple?_ —with an apologetic look on his face. "Hey, I'm sorry if I woke you up with the Monsta X. I forgot to turn it off."

  
"Why's your shirt purple?" Junhui asked, patting a sleepy Seokmin before the latter left. "Do we have spray paint? Can I borrow?"

  
"What?" Joshua asked. "No, Cheol, you didn't forget. I remember coming to your room last night and I told you to lower the volume — lots of times — and you said no, and you said that you want to sleep listening to it."

  
"Oh," Seungcheol pointed a finger at him, "did I?"

  
"Yeah? Why would you forget something that someone made you remember?"

  
"What did you do to make me remember anyway?"

  
"I sprayed fake purple smoke in your room. Remember the purple?"

  
"Clearly," Mingyu gestured to Seungcheol's shirt. "I think he clearly remembers the purple."

  
"Why do you have that purple thing in the first place?"

  
"I thought it was fertilizer until I realized it was just some art illusion prop. For the bet," Joshua clarified. Unbeknownst to him, Mingyu whistled a low tone, suddenly realizing that one of the parts in the story has become true to life.

  
Again.

  
"Do you know how much I was nervous last night because I thought it was killable?"

  
"You're too worried, Cheol. I'm not going to harm you, not ever." Joshua turned around and placed one mug on the table. "Here. Have some coffee."

  
Seungcheol ruffled his hair in defeat, taking the mug with his hands. Minghao could only watch in furtive disbelief, until his eyes darted towards the other presence in the room: Wen Junhui.

  
But Junhui wasn't paying attention to him, and Minghao remembered that's how the third book started.

-

_"As the Judge, I really think you should keep your title as the demon guard, but since this is a democratic decision," Hansol says sadly, "you are now no longer a demon guard, and I cannot promise you a home, a career, or a life after this. I'm sorry, Mr. Choi."_

_"I cannot do anything about it anyway, so—"_

_Joshua takes Seungcheol by the hand. "Well, Mr. Chwe, it's okay. Seriously. Those sad angels should just keep their mouth shut. Just because they're sad doesn't mean we have to join their pity party."_

_Hansol seems confused._

_Joshua smiles, sparkling the forgetfulness magic in the air._

_And in a snap, they are back from the start._

-

It was already late at night when Minghao's phone buzzed. His eyes shot open, and his hand blindly looked for the rectangular gadget from the floor. When he found it, he turned it on and —

**DK:** Hi Hao ! I'm sorry if I told Gyu to come to your room . He barged in inside a few minutes ago and he was crying because of some story :( And he cant stop being sad even when I cuddle with him :(

 **DK:** So I Sent him to your room To make him Feel better . Sorry :(

Minghao knew it was really a bad idea for Mingyu to know what he has been up to on their last week off before a comeback. In a span of two days, he was now too attached to the stories that it even raised the awareness of the other members. Thankfully, none of them knew yet.

  
Or at least, he thinks so.

  
He replied to Seokmin first before standing up to unlock the door, expecting Mingyu to arrive, and he did—Minghao saw him outside, in his pajamas and t-shirt, with red-rimmed eyes and a phone for a flashlight.

  
"Stop looking at me like that," Mingyu whispered once they were closer than one feet. He immediately went inside and Minghao closed the door. "Okay, I'm sorry for waking you and Seokmin up, but I just read the ending of book 2 and I thought that X should have justice and should've been happy with Monster instead!—"

  
Minghao followed him to the bed, where he was already making himself comfortable by sitting on one end of it.

  
He hated seeing Mingyu cry, for fuck's sake. Rather half-heartedly, he quickly found a tissue box and threw it on the tall man's lap. He cringed when it hit him not-so-gently.

  
"—I really think they deserve a happy ending, just like Not One Bit. You told me that was more angsty!"

  
"The content was angsty, but the ending was happy. But with the second book, it's almost the opposite: light-hearted, kind of angsty, and has a sad ending. Sorry for the confusion..."

  
Mingyu looked sadly at his phone, with the words mocking his emotions by telling him to be sad. Minghao clicked on the screen once, and pointed to the words _Book 2_ , followed by the title, and _cheolsoo_.

  
"Don't worry about it," Minghao said monotonously, "I cried when I read that, too. And I'd rather not spoil you, okay, but all you have to remember is that: all books are in the same universe. And that means, in the next books, there's still a connection with them. Okay?"

  
"Alright."

  
"Alright." Minghao lied down on his bed, avoiding Mingyu who was sitting on one end of it. "Take your time and wake me up when you need something important."

  
"Wow—Heartless bitch."

  
The sadness was evident in his voice, so Minghao opted for a more light-hearted, casual answer of "You are an ungrateful, pathetic excuse of a beanpole, Mingyu."

  
The aforementioned beanpole was quiet for a moment, as opposed to what Minghao expected.

  
It was a quiet moment too long for a conversation like that. Minghao couldn't categorize it as a comfortable quiet, because it's nowhere near comfortable.

  
The Chinese was starting to worry if he had come off across as too harsh. But before he can plan out an apology, Mingyu asked again, "Can I have a hug?"

  
The other nearly hesitated, but he knew the correct answer. "...Gross, Mingyu. No."

  
"Fine. I'm going to start with the third book."

  
"And open the lights, too, Gyu. Better for the eyes."

  
Mingyu smiled gratefully, his canine teeth out, as he reached out to turn on the desk lamp for better light.

-

_Junhui, despite of the stupid cat stereotype, runs._

_He runs out of the cage, remembering Seokmin's words to protect the only vampire in China. He runs, remembering he has a mission. He will no longer be confined in the walls of that pet store. No more Mingyu, he reminds himself, which is sad._

_He runs and he runs still, because Mingyu isn't his priority right now, or even himself. Despite of him being lonely as he used to be confined for years. Despite of him being sad. Despite of him suffering. Despite of the cold that the forest provided._

_Junhui doesn't like forests. But here he was, running inside one. If he was suffering, his only wish was not to make others suffer, too._

_And he was going to start with that — with no other than Minghao._

_"Wait!"_

_When Minghao sees him running, he walks careful steps. Careful, something the cat was never good at._

_"Wait, cat?! Wait up."_

_Junhui's confidence is now gone. He stops in his tracks, slightly shivering._

_"Hey, are you lost?"_

_Junhui doesn't move._

_"It's raining out here. Your owner must be worried, cat."_

_Junhui couldn't respond._

_"Hey, I don't think you should be here." Minghao looks up. "It's cold. I'll come and get you, okay?"_

_Stupid Mingyu, Junhui says in his head, Stupid Mingyu for leaving me alone in this world. Stupid Seokmin, for giving me a mission._

_And_ stupid Minghao _, but he'll say that later in the story._

-

"I'm waiting."

  
Minghao pretended he didn't hear him.

  
"Any minute now. . ."

  
No response.

  
"Really? No interaction?" Mingyu whispered. "No China Bro? No _Junnie-hyung_? No _Jun don't do that_? No My I?"

  
Minghao said something towards Seungkwan, who just went inside the kitchen, but ignored Junhui, who arrived with him.

  
"Seriously, I'm waiting. Shouldn't we have an experiment for this?"

  
"Gyu, the only thing I'm waiting for is for you to shut the fuck up," he muttered in annoyance. Ever since Mingyu began reading the third book, his despair for the second one vanished and he's been watching Minghao and Junhui like a hawk.

  
"I said _I'm_ waiting, _not you're_ waiting."

  
"Same difference. You're me, I'm you. We're M&M."

  
"Oh, don't pull the best friend card now. Bitch."

  
"Bitch is really the only insult you can tell me." He stared at Mingyu aggressively. " _Pathetic bacteria_. And besides, are we _even_ friends?"

  
"You tell me. Who brought up the M&M?"

  
"I did, because we're future business partners, not some fucking fr—"

  
"Guys, shut up!" Seungkwan interrupted. "I only want a good lunch, alright? If you're gonna fight go do it somewhere else, where someone _cares_."

  
"Sorry, Seungkwan, I didn't mean to disturb you," Mingyu apologized sincerely, while Minghao muttered a "Seungkwan's right, let's go."

  
"You know, what if," Junhui added, "you guys just look for a common ground?"

  
_Common ground?_ It rang alarming bells in Minghao's mind for sounding so familiar.

  
"You mean like a common interest? Don't worry, we've got plenty of that already," Mingyu explained with patience.

  
"And it's making me sick," Minghao added.

  
"Yeah, no, we really mean a common ground. You're reading something these past few days, right? Go bond over that or whatever." Seungkwan looked down towards his plate. "Can't believe you need two people—one of which being _younger_ than the both of you—have to tell you to stop fighting."

  
"Okay, sorry," Minghao apologized again, returning to their previous conversation and seeing an impatient Mingyu, resting his head on his fist, as his arm rested on the table.

  
"Really, I'm waiting. This is going to be interesting."

  
"It's weird, because I know. Why don't you predict something first, maybe it'll come true."

  
"Predict? I'm not _Monster_."

  
"But I can be your _X_ ," Minghao replied, "just go and predict."

  
"Okay. . . I think. . . that, Angel is going to send Cat when Vamp is lonely."

  
"Vamp is not lonely," Minghao countered, "so that's out of the question."

  
"Vamp should try being lonely."

  
"How do you even try to be lonely?"

  
Mingyu shrugged. "Why isn't Vamp lonely anyway?"

  
"Because Vamp has the Pet Store Owner," Minghao replied, his tone slowly rising, "all the _fucking_ time. That Pet Store Owner could be a pet. They can be a dog. Loyal, too loyal."

  
Mingyu smiled mockingly, his sharp teeth on display. "I think Vamp should be more grateful, although he _is_ a pathetic excuse of a vampire."

  
"That Pet Store owner is more pathetic and is nothing compared to—"

  
"No spoilers." Mingyu pinched Minghao's cheek. "I haven't gotten to that one yet."

-

_Minghao didn't expect to see the cat again the next day when he steps outside his little on-the-ground tree house in the middle of the forest._

_The cat seems like a domestic cat, so it's hard to comprehend why it had made it's way here. He spares the cat's life again, deciding not to use its blood for his advantage. He crouches down to meet with the cat halfway, as the cat walks cautiously. There are green eyes looking at him intently, but Minghao's eyes zero in on the fish that is hanging in the cat's mouth._

_"Why do you have a fish?"_

_The cat makes motions using his head, and the vampire opened his palms._

_The cat placed the fish on Minghao's hands._

_Minghao smiled. . ._

_although he doesn't have the heart to tell the cat that he doesn't eat fish._

_However, to express gratitude despite of the uselessness of the gift, Minghao brushes the cat's fur instead. Junhui provides a positive response._

-

"I'm also thinking Cat will share his food with Vamp," Mingyu wondered out loud in his shared dorm with Jihoon. The latter had gone to his studio, already preparing for their comeback. "Or maybe I shouldn't predict out loud."

  
"No, it's okay." Minghao stayed as far away as possible, all because he couldn't bear reading the story with him in it, again, although it was a good one.

  
"Are you getting bored?"

  
"Slightly. No offense, though."

  
"It's okay." Mingyu smiled, showing his canine teeth. "You can just get food for the both of us."

  
Minghao stood up, then he staggered outside and towards the kitchen, not even the slightest bit surprised when he sees Junhui there.

  
_Of course,_ he thought, _it's expected_. He opened the fridge and looked for something to eat.

  
"Hungry, Hao?"

  
"Yes."

  
Junhui raised up a Chinese snack. "Want some?"

  
He closed the fridge. "Well. . ."

  
Feeling slightly suspicious, Minghao turned around, just to see Kim Mingyu watching in interest. His presence wasn't exactly foreign to Minghao, not anymore, and he knew where the presence was located, almost always. The younger Chinese looked back to Junhui with a smile. "Yes, I want some. Thanks."

  
When Junhui left, Mingyu ran excitedly towards him, crashing into Minghao's back, his arm wrapping around the other's body for support. Minghao refused to call it a hug. "Was it fish?"

  
"No, it wasn't." Minghao raised it up between them. "Do you want some?"

  
"No thanks, you can have it. Not my preference."

  
Minghao nodded, fixing Mingyu's hair, who laughed in response. "Okay, then. Go look for food yourself."

  
Mingyu smiled instead, placing his chin on Minghao's shoulder. "Got any more predictions?"

-

_It's still raining outside in the mainland, and Minghao watches the droplets sadly from the on-the-ground treehouse, knowing he cannot go out and meet people. Junhui, in his human form, with an oversized shirt and shorts, runs up and sits next to Minghao. "What's wrong?"_

_"I never felt so lonely."_

_"Aw, really? You have me."_

_"Yeah, right, I mean..."_

_Junhui smiles. "It's okay. I want to do that, anyway, to make you not lonely anymore." He opens his arms. "Hug?"_

_Minghao lets Junhui hug him. For the first time, it felt nice. For the first time in a while, a rainy day didn't feel so cold._

"Myungho," Mingyu called, "you're such a flirt."

  
"Wait till you see how you are with hyung!"

-

  
_"You were sent by an Angel?" Minghao asks._

_"...Yeah. Something wrong about it?" He looks at the vampire with a smile. "You can tell me."_

_Minghao wants to say that he found out about Junhui's time limit on his mission of making him happy._

_He wants to say that it would be harder to let go once the time is up._

  
-

"Kim Mingyu, stop smiling, it's freaking everyone out," Wonwoo told him over dinner.

  
"What? Why?" Mingyu asked, watching someone pass someone else a bowl of something. "I'm just happy for Shua-hyung. He won the bet."

  
"Thanks, man!" Joshua said, a little too happily.

  
Wonwoo looked at him briefly before looking back at Mingyu. "Yeah, so? What makes you so happy about it?"

  
"Because, I'm happy for him. He guessed and-or predicted right."

  
Jeonghan smiled upon hearing that, for some reason Mingyu didn't understand.

  
"My goodness, Kim Mingyu," Wonwoo muttered.

  
"It's okay, Mingyu-hyung, everyone has their weird preferences," Hansol said with the intent to comfort. Soonyoung laughed out loud.

  
"The Judge talks like that."

  
Hansol seemed confused. This made Mingyu smile. "Nothing. Sorry. I just remembered something."

  
From underneath the table, he pretended not to be hurt from Minghao's kick.

  
After dinner, Minghao pulled him aside to talk privately. "Mingyu, I don't know which part are you on in Book 3 right now, but please, for the love of all — just shut the fuck up!"

  
"...Is there something wrong?"

  
Minghao looked like he wanted to say something, but he decided against on saying it.

  
"You can tell me, Myungho."

  
"Just keep it down, alright? Nobody is supposed to know about what we're doing."

  
"...You're right. I wasn't exactly discreet and I got too excited. I'm sorry."

  
"You better be."

  
Mingyu grinned, his canine teeth showing. Minghao knew this wasn't a good idea—and he was right—because his stupid best friend wrapped him in the warmest embrace. "Thank you for being a nice friend to me, Myungho."

  
"Get the fuck away from me, Gyu."

-

_"I am a vampire, Jun. A vampire It's impossible for me to love someone who isn't my kind."_

_"Is this a joke, Hao? Because I'm ready for you to laugh."_

_"Stop crying," Minghao lies through his teeth. "You look so pathetic. I said I don't want to be with you, Jun. What can you not understand from that?"_

Stupid Minghao, _Junhui thinks_. Stupid, stupid Minghao.

-

"Stop crying," Minghao told him annoyedly. It had been almost three days since they had this whole reading thing going on, and by the third book, Minghao decided not to join him much in reading anymore. It was quite awkward to see oneself in a story.

  
It's like a distorted mirror, or something, in Minghao's opinion.

  
But anyway, here he was, standing in front of Mingyu's bed at ten in the evening after the latter asked for him to come to his and Jihoon's shared room. "I can hear you from here. Despite of your big ass beds." He peeked at Jihoon, who had his earphones on. "Hyung is fortunate."

  
"Geez, Myung—Hao, did you even read this? You're acting like you don't care. You broke up with the Cat. The best Cat ever."

  
"And you're annoying as heck, Mingyu. Which part are you—oh, the break-up?"

  
"Yeah."

  
A few minutes later, Minghao was considering to go back to his own room in the other dormitory. His eyes were nearly falling — and he could've fallen asleep right then and there on the floor until Jihoon asked him to wake up.

  
"Find a space to sleep. You can get in my bed or," he looked at Mingyu, who was crying, " _his_ bed. Next time, if Mingyu asks you to come over, _don't_."

  
"The things I do for Mingyu," he muttered.

  
"Anyways, my offer still stands." Jihoon moved slightly to give space. Minghao climbed up with a smile and lied down next to him. "Thank you, h—"

  
" _Shit. Shit. Shit_. Why, in the world, does Book 3 only have _twenty-seven_ chapters? That's half compared to the other books!"

  
"Let's just be happy that Seokmin the Angel and Jeonghan the Demon got back together, and that the Vampire and the Cat had a good enough closure." Minghao snorted. "You know what, I think you should see Book 4. That one reached almost a hundred."

  
"What?!"

  
"The portrayers are extremely popular and the chapters can be considered short—"

  
"The Vampire and the Cat deserved better, Hao."

  
"Can't you just, I don't know, sleep, Gyu? We'll talk it off in the morning."

  
"Fine."

  
"Fucking finally. Turn off the lights, Gyu," Jihoon muttered, removing his earphones. Minghao lied down sideways, facing the person he liked better, Lee Jihoon.

-

"I'm sorry about last night," Mingyu said, when he was lying on Minghao's bed the next morning. It was the fourth day. "I asked you to come and just let you stand there in our room." He looked at his best friend, who was just sketching something on his notebook. "I'm sorry. I was so caught up that I couldn't accommodate you."

  
"You're like Wonwoo in Book 4," Minghao muttered incoherently.

  
"Sorry?"

  
"I said, _yes, whatever_."

  
"You know, I don't think it's easy to find predictions anymore."

  
"What makes you say that?"

  
"It always has to be the other way around, since we're part of the story," Mingyu elaborated, frowning as he faced the fourth and last book of the series. "I haven't seen any resemblance of the story from Book 3 to real life... I mean, I'm just curious on why it isn't working this time around."

  
"Maybe we're just delusional, Mingyu."

  
Mingyu raised the phone again, seeing the words _Book 4_ , the title, and _meanie_.

  
"Are you sure this is the most popular book of the author?"

  
"Yes, moron. I told you that already."

  
Mingyu frowned. "Book 3 still deserved better. The author had a promise of extra scenes and they only uploaded all books except Book 3. And it only has twenty-seven chapters."

  
Minghao continued to sketch, as he sat on the floor. Mingyu looked at him again.

  
"Maybe the reason why we cannot see much resemblance in real life — in Book 3, I mean — is because it's too short."

  
His friend only hummed in agreement, and Mingyu looked at his phone screen again. _Book 4_ , it read.

  
"I thought I was devastated enough with the ending Monster and X. I thought that the Angel and the Demon's story was painful enough to read. Nothing can get more painful than this."

  
"—oh, stop being so dramatic, Mingyu. Just read the damn Book 4 and tell me which chapter you're on. Remember, I haven't finished that one yet."

-

_Mingyu walks over to one of the dogs—_

"I can't read this," Mingyu said, putting his phone down. "Hao, I can't read this."

  
"You're only in the first chapter!"

  
"Yeah, yeah, you know, you're right. It is hard to read."

  
Mingyu decided quickly: whether he was going to stay on Minghao's bed and suffer alone, or he was going to join Minghao on the floor. He went for the second option, immediately curling onto the other, his head on Minghao's shoulder.

  
"What're you drawing?"

  
"You can just stop asking and _read_." He shook his head. "I told you this was a bad idea, you coming here to push through with the hang-out."

  
"I don't think it's a bad idea, Hao. I'm actually enjoying it."

  
Minghao nodded distractedly.

  
"Don't you feel the same way, Hao?"

  
Minghao stopped drawing. He recalled the last few lines he had read from Book 4 in a flash, simply by hearing Mingyu say them directly.

  
_Don't you feel the same way, Wonwoo?_

  
Wonwoo said something else, followed by, _I wouldn't stoop that low, Mingyu_.

  
_You call me 'Gyu.' You always call me 'Gyu.'_

-

_The wind chimes on the front door of the pet store make a sound, and Mingyu looks up from the counter to see Wonwoo, accompanied by... hmm, a friend?_

_His smile disappears and was replaced by a frown, but he quickly composes himself._

_"Hey, Gyu. This is... hyung, do you want to introduce yourself instead?"_

_"I'm Joshua Hong," that friend introduced himself, "Wonwoo's cousin. No need to be jealous, alright? He told me a lot about you."_

_Oh, so he's a cousin._

_"Shua-hyung, be quiet!"_

_Joshua laughed._

_"'M not jealous... but nice to meet you, too."_

-

"I'm waiting."

  
Mingyu didn't respond.

  
"Any minute now."

  
"Very funny, Hao." Mingyu stirred the contents of his hot chocolate at the dinner table. "Very, very funny, Hao."

  
"Since when do you call him _Hao_?" Wonwoo asked, being one of the observant ones. "You call him Myungho. _Always_ Myungho."

  
Minghao almost recalled something, but he couldn't remember properly.

  
"Things can change in days, hyung."

  
"Point taken." Wonwoo pushed his glasses up, one arm raised up for Chan, the newcomer in the room, to get comfortable in to. "How was the dance practice?"

  
"Hello Ch—"

  
"Hey, what's u—"

  
"Chan, ignore them," Wonwoo said quietly, although everyone in the room can hear it. Chan rolled his eyes at Wonwoo and greeted the two instead.

  
"Alright, then," Minghao looked at Mingyu, once everything was done. "I'm still waiting."

  
Mingyu shook his head.

  
"Come on. No Rap Bros? No Hidden Vocals? No _Hyung let's write lyrics_? No _Hyung do you want some soup I made_?"

  
"You are insufferable, Xu Minghao."

  
"I should make a prediction first. Um..." Minghao looked around the room. "Fallen Angel will get jealous of Pet Store owner... Or Pet Store Owner will do something, and Fallen Angel gets jealous."

  
"Impossible!"

  
"What if, Gyu." Minghao shrugged.

  
"You're X."

  
"And what? You're Monster? We can switch roles, you know."

  
Mingyu sipped on his hot chocolate.

  
"Hmm, I don't think Pet Store owner would do something envious, to be honest with you," he said after drinking, placing a fist on the other's knee.

  
"I.. I doubt that. Pet Store owner is good at everything."

  
"Yeah, and Fallen Angel isn't the envious type. Or even envious of Pet Store owner at all." He lightly punched Minghao's knee over and over as he thought about it.

  
Since Mingyu was currently distracted, Minghao took this opportunity to drink from the former's mug of hot chocolate.

  
Mingyu's eyes flew towards him. "That's mine, Vamp." He took the mug back, placing it on the table, before putting both fists on each of Minghao's knee.

  
Chan's eyes flickered to them both for a while, raising an eyebrow.

  
"Come on, Chan, let's go." Wonwoo pushed his glasses up out of habit.

  
For the first time, one thing that was done out of habit went unnoticed to Minghao, too distracted in predictions.

-

_"I'm sorry I don't have enough time for you, Gyu."_

_"It's okay, Wonwoo."_

_Wonwoo knows it's not okay. He has some things to fix—as he's a fallen angel—he shouldn't be here wandering on Earth. He should go back up and redeem himself._

_But he can't tell Mingyu that. To Mingyu, he is only some cat-loving, office worker who passed by his pet store._

_"No, it isn't. You waited for me, at this time of the night, and I didn't step out of the building, even when in the first place it was me who told you to come. I shouldn't have wasted your time."_

_I asked you to come and just let you stand there in our room_ , Minghao remembered Mingyu say just a few hours ago today, _I'm sorry. I was so caught up that I couldn't accommodate you._

  
What the hell was happening to him?

  
The predictions were supposed to be... not inclined to him. He's not a part of this.

  
"I can feel their pain," the person included himself said, his voice muffled as he was hidden at the juncture between Minghao's neck and shoulder. "Wonwoo doesn't deserve this bullshit. So does Mingyu."

  
"...Gross." He carefully pushed Mingyu away to establish distance.

  
"Still?"

  
Minghao looked up at him briefly, seeing a hurt puppy, but without knowing if it was just for fun or not. He looked back at the e-book they were reading.

  
"Still, what?"

  
"Still gross?"

  
"As always."

  
"But you let Seokmin cuddle you," Mingyu pointed out.

  
"Are we really going to argue about this again?"

  
"No, but I'm just genuinely curious." He leaned back and rested against the bed. "Never mind, it's not a big deal."

  
_"Come on, Gyu, I know something that we can do," Wonwoo says suddenly, reaching out for Mingyu's hand. He looks up at the night sky, and calculates the time he has left._

_He has eight hours. Eight hours left. Eight hours before he comes up and redeems himself at the court. Eight hours before he is the Fallen Angel no more._

_"Where are we going?"_

_"I have to leave again, Gyu, and I thought... why don't we make the best out of the remaining time we have together?"_

_Mingyu tilts his head in confusion._

_"We're almost at the end."_

-

On one of their reading breaks, Minghao decided to hang out in the kitchen with Seungcheol, in Mingyu's side of the dorm, while Mingyu decided to stay in Minghao's part of the dorm along with Seungkwan. "What are you guys been up to these past few days?" Seungcheol asked conversationally, referring to him and Mingyu.

  
"Why're you curious, hyung? We were talking about the comeback just a second ago."

  
Seungcheol shrugged, looking at his nearly empty bowl of food. "This is the most time you've been hanging out."

  
"Oh. We're just reading."

  
"Oh. Reading?"

  
"Yeah." He watched as Seungcheol stand up to wash the bowl he had just eaten from. "Junnie-hyung introduced e-books to me and I liked them, then Mingyu tagged along and he liked the books too." He looked down. "Why are you asking?"

  
"Because he's been acting suspicious and kind of weird, totally un-Mingyu-like. Wonwoo almost wanted to put him for adoption."

  
"Well, it's not like I wouldn't want to put him up for adoption too — but anyway, really? Weird?"

  
Minghao watched the water run from the tap as Seungcheol washed the bowl.

  
"I don't know, he just, _never_ reads things like this and now he does and in a span of a few days, he's the most emotional dog in the planet."

  
"Oh, yeah, I noticed that too, hyung."

  
"What were you guys reading?"

  
"We were reading a series, actually. It's, um, quite heavy. It has — um, heavy atmospheres and sad stuff... I guess that's why..."

  
"And which part are you on the series now?"

  
Minghao didn't have control on the next words that came out of his mouth. "We're almost at the end."

-

_They danced on the tables at the bar, screaming happily to the loud music, like they've never been so free before—_

"Won't the tables break because we're too big for that?" Mingyu questioned, leaning forward with his chin on Minghao's shoulder and his arms lazily resting across the other's waist. They were sitting on the floor of Minghao's room. And the taller of which almost laughed at the content. "This is how we spent our eight hours?"

  
"Well, I can't imagine the both of you doing that at the same time or else you guys will fall."

_and they've never been that free._

_"Let's head out, Gyu!"_

_Wonwoo goes down from the table, and Mingyu follows, laughing, and they both run away to the next destination: the bookstore_.

Minghao snorted. "Do you even read?"

  
"I'm reading now."

  
Minghao slightly turned around to glare at him for fun, and Mingyu only gave him a small smile.

-

_When Mingyu wakes up, he is face to face with Wonwoo again, only this time, they're in some cramped up hotel room with checkered blankets and brown walls._

_No dogs barking. No cats meowing. No birds chirping. No pets, no papers, just him and Wonwoo, together, in this bright, sunny day. Mingyu could tell because of the sunlight filtering through the windows._

_"Hey, Wonwoo," he says with a smile. Wonwoo's eyes slowly open, and he doesn't smile upon seeing Mingyu._

_"Come on, I'll drive you home. We had a rough evening. And a rough dawn."_

_"Eight hours over," Wonwoo tells him seriously, getting up from the bed._

_"Yeah." Mingyu grins._

_"That means we're over, Gyu."_

_"What? Why?"_

_"It just does."_

_Silence in the hotel room._

_"Why so sudden?"_

_"I don't know." Wonwoo avoids his eyes. "You tell me."_

_"Why?"_

_"I just.. don't love you, okay?"_

_Another silence follows the statement._

_"Don't you feel the same way, Wonwoo?"_

_"Why would I like a low pet store owner like you?" Wonwoo asks. "I wouldn't stoop that low, Mingyu."_

_"You call me 'Gyu.'" Mingyu's tears fell from his eyes. "You always call me Gyu."_

-

"Can I sleep over here tonight?" Mingyu asked in between their reading. "I want to finish the fourth book with you."

  
"Sure."

  
"Alright." Mingyu opened the door, and the light outside overwhelmed Minghao, after being in his dimly lit room for hours. "I'm going to make dinner."

  
"I'm going to try and see if it's actually going to come true again."

  
"What will come true again?"

  
"Pet Store owner and Fallen Angel," Minghao replied easily, following Mingyu outside his room after turning off his desk lamp. "You're gonna cook at your dorm, right?"

  
"Yeah. Let's go."

-

Minghao predicted that Wonwoo would tell Mingyu _"no"_ about something. To keep things natural, he opted to keep it to himself. During the dinner, everyone was busy eating as usual, too busy eating to talk, so he had to wait around for some interaction.

  
"Wonu-hyung," Mingyu suddenly called. Wonwoo looked up in expectance. "Can you pass the pitcher?"

  
Wordlessly, Wonwoo handed him the pitcher of water.

  
"Thank you!"

  
"No prob, pup."

  
Mingyu still offered Wonwoo a puppy-like grin, and Minghao raised an eyebrow at that. Wonwoo laughed upon seeing it.

  
Maybe Minghao was getting delusional, too delusional. But he noted that they got along — in book 4, they did get along — but this is so stupid. What he's doing is disrespectful and stupid.

  
He should stop measuring relationships and reality because of some fanfic from an e-book he read. What a fucking disappointment, Xu Minghao.

  
Soonyoung, who was sitting next to him, leaned forward and whispered, "what? You want to kill him?"

  
"Who?"

  
"Gyu."

  
_"No,"_ he declined, "hyung."

  
Soonyoung laughed. "Okay. That's new..."

  
He looked around, and was glad nobody else noticed.

  
However, he didn't realize until later that he gave the wrong answer.

-

"The predictions aren't working anymore," Minghao reported around late at night. Mingyu plopped down next to him on the former's bed, immediately clinging onto him by hugging. Extremely disgusting.

  
"We're almost at the finale, actually. The part I haven't got to read."

  
"By the way, you told me that you liked my character there better than how you like me in real life, right?"

  
"Yeah. And?"

  
"Do you mean that?"

  
"Yeah."

  
"Seriously? Because I think we have the same personality."

  
"I liked Pet Store owner better. Do you know why?"

  
"Why?"

  
"He's not real."

  
Mingyu's eyes landed on the number of support and popularity that book 4 received. He quickly recalled the previous books, and wondered what made the last one so different. Maybe because it's the end.

-

They finished reading at 4 in the morning. Minghao was tearing up for having such an unexpected ending, and because he was attached to the series for more than a week.

  
Mingyu was only silent.

  
"I still think Book 3 deserves justice."

  
"I'm just happy Monster and X got back together, that's all. And so did Angel and Demon, previously."

  
"There wasn't proper closure for Vamp and Cat. It was kind of rushed — just a little bit. But the story's great."

  
"Can you stop talking so we can sleep?"

  
"No, because I can never sleep knowing that Vamp is lonely."

  
"I told you so already, Vamp is not lonely."

  
"Why?" Mingyu almost laughed, his embrace on Minghao getting tighter. "Are you the author?"

  
"No, but Vamp knows he has the Pet Store owner by his side."

  
"Isn't this gross?" Mingyu questioned, hardly believing his ears.

  
"It's not gross, Gyu. Not one bit."

**BONUS:**

  
It was 9 AM. One day left before their official brainstorming for the comeback, and the members were, as usual, in their respective habitats in the dorms around this time.

  
"Hey, Mingyu," Minghao called, waking up. He adjusts his focus and sees that he's still in his room, with Mingyu right beside him, sleeping peacefully and comfortably. "Wake up, fuckface."

  
"That's not a nice way to say hi to your boyfriend, isn't it?" Mingyu asked quite sleepily.

  
"We finished the book. Get the fuck out of my room."

  
Minghao stood up, locating his phone on the floor just to check if there were any messages from his friends or family back home in China. He let out a squeak when Mingyu fucking manhandles him — read: pulling him closer to hug him from the back.

  
Minghao was just dramatic in descriptions.

  
"The fuck do you want?"

  
"Good morning, Hao." He leaned forward, pressing a kiss on the back of Minghao's neck. "I'm gonna go make breakfast."

  
"Is this because you're still not over book 3? I told you, Vamp's fine."

  
"Yeah, but—"

  
"We have this argument for so many times—"

  
"Doesn't matter if the author preferred to update _your_ fanfiction. I like the angst, anyway," he tried to pull away from his boyfriend. "You can fucking stop being clingy as fuck now."

  
Mingyu readjusts his arms and hugs Minghao tighter and puts his chin on Minghao's shoulder. "You were more flirty in the fan-fiction. But you were with Moon Junnie-hyung there, so."

  
"That's because it's fucking fiction. Get _away_ from me, Gyu."

**Author's Note:**

> Eyy did you notice the connection of the "fanfics" to their relationship?


End file.
